Dharmachintana – June 2018

Dharma Civilization Foundation will be sponsoring an organized Roundtable discussion featuring Dr. Vishwa Adluri, Hunter College, New York, Michael K. Ward, CSU, Northridge and Dr. Kundan Singh, Sofia University, Palo Alto at the World History Association (WHA). (Click Here for more information). Annual Conference at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee to be held between June 21 and June 23, 2018. This organized Roundtable discussion titled “Silencing the Voice of the Indigenous: The Aryan Invasion/Migration Theory”, will address ongoing problems associated with the Aryan Invasion/ Migration Theory, and examine the controversies involving the late-18th and 19th-century origins of this theory and its service to European national interests and agendas. (Click Here for a Pre Read) of the principle arguments that we will be advancing at the conference. The WHA consists of an international group of scholars and teachers whose mission is to “advance scholarship and teaching within a trans-national, trans-regional, and trans-cultural perspective,” and promotes evidence-based research, the integration of diverse histories, the free exchange of ideas, and education for the common good of the human community.

On June 29th, 2018, the book Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism authored by Dr. Vishwa Adluri and Dr. Joydeep Bagchi and published by Anthem Press – 2018 will become available (Click Here to Pre-Order). DCF has played an important role in supporting these scholars in completing this work, which is the first work of its kind that presents a comprehensive review of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, which was completed between 1933 and 1966, by a panel of scholars under the auspices of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune. The book by Dr. Vishwa Adluri and Dr. Joydeep Bagchee, provides an overview of both historical and contemporary views on the Critical Edition and clarifies the strengths and weaknesses in the arguments for and against the text. Simultaneously it surveys the history of Western interpretive approaches to the Indian epic and evaluates them in terms of their cogency and tenability using the tools of textual criticism. It thus subjects many prejudices of nineteenth-century scholarship to a penetrating critique. As a companion volume to their book The Nay Science: A History of German Indology (Oxford University Press, 2014), this book is set to become the definitive guide to Mahābhārata textual criticism.

DCF will also be co-sponsoring the “International Conference on Growth and Development of the Indian Culture: History and Literary Perspectives (Prehistoric Period—Twelfth Century CE)” to be held in Bangalore, India between June 29 and July 1, being organized by Dr. Nalini. S. Rao of Soka University (Click Here for more information).